Quote Originally Posted by Eemeli View Post
If you would assign real world languages to DnD languages based on how similar they are (not script, just speech), what would you assign to each one. Asking because I want to ephazise difference between languages in my game so I can just put phrase to Google Translate (bad, but close enough and it's fantasy) and speak the translation if somebody speaks language somebody doesn't know.

Languages I need are:
Dwarvish, Elvish, Giant, Gnomish, Goblin, Halfling, Orc, Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, Infernal, Primordial (if you can, you can give each one different language), Sylvan, Undercommon, Druidic, and Theives' cant

Some guidelines: Our common is English and Finnish (because we live in Finland, but also speak lot of english) and if the language isn't in Google translate or some other online translator, change it to what is closest that is in some online translator.

I know, this is lot to ask, but if there are any language experts or people who are willing to do lot of research, could you help me out? Huge thanks in advance!
The only help I can give you is inspiration from my own world building. I am a terrible worldbuilder and use the map of Eurasia and Northern Africa as a rough placement for where tribes come from. So I am just pulling languages from where I have the largest concentration of that particular people.

Dwarvish: Icelandic. Modern speakers of Icelandic can read the Prose Eddas as written just fine, and it makes sense for a tradition bound, long lived race to have a language that barely changes over the course of generations.

Elvish: I would say Irish (Gaelige), as it's a Celtic language, but is more flowing in my experience than Scottish Gaelic.

Giant: Greek

Gnomish/Halfling: No idea. I would just give them an Old English/Finnish dialect and say that they have lost their old tongue due to various diasporas and having to fit in with the current regime of the area.

Goblin: Sanskrit. The hierarchy between the subraces that keeps people in their place really invokes the idea of the historical Indian caste system

Orc: Russian/Mongolian (I place Orcs on the mongolian steppes and farther North

Celestial: Hebrew (I think they already use the Hebrew alphabet for the language, and it will likely have some resonance with the table. Perhaps not, I am not sure what your table's likely experience with Judeo-Christian themes.

Draconic: German. It fits well with the fact that Kobold means "Goblin" in German.

Infernal: Latin. It sounds so grandiose and evil in English

Abyssal: French no good ideas

Primordial: no idea. Perhaps Esperanto if you want to do a "First language" idea, since it is supposed to be one of the easiest languages to learn.

Undercommon: No really good ideas. Is there a language that shares common ties to Finnish that has diverged since? Might be the best way to do it.

Sylvan: Perhaps use Scottish Gaelic here for ties between Elven and Sylvan.

Druidic: No good ideas. If you have a better idea for Primordial, perhaps a similar language for Druidic would work.

Thieve's Cant: I would use Cockney Rhyming Slang personally, but that isn't in Google Translate.

This is really surface level breakdown. Someone else probably has much better ideas than my list. Mine is based a lot off of laziness in world building, so take it with a grain of salt.